The Imagery of a Wigwam (“Mother” and “The Legends”)
In “Mother”, Zitkala- Sa expounds, “A wigwam of weather-stained canvas stood at the base of some irregularly ascending hills”. In “The Legends” Zitkala-Sa recalls, “During the summer days my mother built her fire in the shadow of our wigwam.” The wigwam is enthralling notwithstanding its uncomplicatedness. Even though the canvas covering it is discoloured, it makes a roof available for Zitkala-Sa and her mother. The summer fires amplify the cosiness of the wigwam.
The Imagery of Zitkala-Sa’s Mother (“Mother”)
As Zitkala-Sa describes, “She (her mother) was only of medium height. Often she was sad and silent, at which times her full arched lips were compressed into hard and bitter lines, and shadows fell under her black eyes.” Gloom in pervasive in Zitkala Sa’s mother’s life. The ‘bitter lines’ and ‘shadows…under her black eyes’ elicit the impression of uncontainable grief.
The Imagery of Plays (“The Beadworks”)
Zitkala-Sa’s childhood plays paralleled the Native-Indian culture. Zitkala-Sa explains, “I remember well how we used to exchange our necklaces, beaded belts, and sometimes even our moccasins. We pretended to offer them as gifts to one another. We delighted in impersonating our own mothers. We talked of things we had heard them say in their conversations. We imitated their various manners, even to the inflection of their voices.” The play dates gave Zitkala-Sa and her childhood associates the chance to live out their culture in their childhoods. The performances were a simulation of the activities that they had observed the adults perform.
